Dismal ratings for bleep-filled Golden Globes

Apparently not everyone was overjoyed to have the Golden Globes back. Last night’s bleep-riddled broadcast produced the second-worst ratings since 1995.

A year after being reduced to a stripped-down press conference fiasco by the writers strike, the Globes got back to its usual star-powered booze fest. But many viewers didn’t return. The program on NBC averaged 14.6 million viewers, according to Nielsen.

That, of course, was a huge improvement over the 6 million that watched last year’s bare-bones offering. But it was a steep decline from the 20 million that watched in 2007 and the 26.8 million that watched in 2004.

Perhaps some of the mouthy celebrities drove viewers away. Not only were the stars execessively long-winded (Kate Winslet, we love you, but please stop!), they were saltier than sailors.

Actor Mickey Rourke, for example, delivered one of the show’s most profane acceptance speeches in recent history. Ricky Gervais talked of having sex with 200 middle-aged journalists and Tina Fey told a blogger to “suck it.” And then there was “Slumdog Millionaire” producer Christian Colson closing out the night with an expletive as he realized time was up for his speech.

The Golden Globes have always been a very “loose” gala, but maybe they need to cut back on the champagne.